Gabby Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS) drilled home his first game-winning goal of the season nearly three minutes into the second overtime period to lift Dixie State to a dramatic 2-1 result over Hawai'i Pacific Tuesday night at Legend Solar Stadium. With the win, the Trailblazers (7-0-0/3-0-0 PacWest) extended its regular-season winning streak to 22-straight games, which includes 16-consecutive results in Pacific West Conference play.
After both teams battled through a scoreless 60 minutes of play, the Trailblazers managed to break through late in the 61
st-minute when
Ather Dawood (Tucson, Ariz./Palo Verde HS) played in a corner kick that was deflected by
Angel Estrada (Pasadena, Calif./Pasadena HS) to
Bryan Baugh (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley HS), who blasted home his first goal of the year into the left side of the frame to put DSU up by a 1-0 count.
HPU (2-4-1/0-3-0 PacWest) turned up the offensive pressure over the next 20 minutes as the Sharks attempted seven shot attempts, two of which were blocked away by the DSU defense, while sophomore keeper
Zach Nielson (West Point, Utah/Northridge HS) stopped another attempt to keep HPU off the board. Hawai'i Pacific would solve the Trailblazer defense with just under seven minutes to play in regulation when Jordan Coxall crossed a ball from the right wing to an open Mario Garcia Velez, who fired in the equalizer to knot the match at 1-1.
DSU, which was held to just three shots on goal in the match, had a chance at the potential game winner in the first overtime session when
Angel Estrada (Pasadena, Calif./Pasadena HS) booted a ball that was corralled by Shark netminder Daniel Arnoll. However the third shot on goal was the charm in the second OT when Dawood sent in a cross from the right wing to
Moises Medina (Mesquite, Nev./Virgin Valley HS), who one-touched the ball to his older brother Gabby for the game-winner past Arnoll into the left corner of the frame to end the match.
The Trailblazers were outshot in the match by a 17-8 count, including 8-3 on goal. Nielson recorded a career-high seven saves en route to his sixth win in goal of the year.
Dixie State concludes its four-match homestand this Saturday night, Sept. 30, against PacWest rival California Baptist at 7 p.m.
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